Pride
by NIkly
Summary: One-shot connected to my fic Child of the Darkness. Matt's reaction at Will's desappearance.


**I don't own W.I.T.C.H.**

**Chapter beta-ed by XVDragon**

**This one-shot is about Matt. Matt is going to have a role in my story **_**Child of the Darkness**_**, so here I'm explaining why he wasn't around to help the others to find Will.**

**Matt's role in the comics is a bit confused. In the first time he's only Matt's boyfriend and he knows about the Guardians because Will told him.**

**But then we find out that he was sent from Kandrakar! To help the girls! He had known everything from the beginning. But the comics didn't explain why, so I invented something.**

**So in this one-shot and in my other fiction Matt comes from Earth, but he was trained at Kandrakar. Nothing special ;)**

**Enough now with this useless speech, I hope you'll enjoy my story.**

**This one-shot is set at the beginning of the story of Child of the Darkness. When Will has desappeared and everyone is looking for her.**

**

* * *

**

Pride.

When Mrs Olsen came back to home that afternoon, she found that Matt was already at home, his rucksack and his jacket were there. Strange, he usually stayed at school after lessons with his Group, the Cobalt Blue. But thinking about that, perhaps it wasn't so strange.

Mrs. Olsen thought sadly about his son's girlfriend, Will. She had been missing for almost a week and the police had no idea of where to look for her. Mrs Olsen had seen Susan, Will's mother, only once under those circumstances and she wasn't eager to repeat that experience.

The woman's pain for her daughter's loss was almost tangible; Mrs Olsen suspected that if hadn't been for Will's little brother and for Mr Collins, her husband, Susan would have lost her mind because of the grief a long time ago.

She couldn't even imagine what it might mean losing a son and she didn't want to think about it. To think to live without her Matt, coming back home and passing in front of his empty bedroom _every day_... she shivered and shut out the bad thoughts.

When she entered the kitchen she saw her son sitting at the table and staring at the TV with a glass of milk next to him.

"Hi Matt."

"Hi mum."

"Haven't you had to stay at school today with your Group?" she asked.

"Nah. I'm free today," was Matt's answer.

Mrs Olsen sighed: "Matt, you know that I'm always here for you, for everything, right? If you want, we could..."

"Mum, didn't you have to pick up your skirts from the dry cleaner? Her son interrupted her. "It's going to close."

His mother looked at him, speechless for a few instants. Then she sighed again, this time only between herself, and said, "You're right. I should hurry."

The woman left the room and, soon after, she was out of the house. Matt remained alone.

The boy stared at the TV without really seeing it, he took the glass of milk and threw it in the sink and then he went in his room.

He threw himself on the bed and closed his eyes.

Will.

Will.

The girl he loved.

He was a warrior, trained in Kandrakar by the best masters to help the Guardians, to stay at their side. He should have protected them, being a close friend to them, but he had failed.

He had left that Will would have been accused if something she hadn't done and he had betrayed her by turning his back to her, leaving her.

He clenched his fists, furious against himself. He was a failure.

"Matt, my young friend, it's been a long time."

Matt winced and jumped up. In a corner of his room, next to the open window, there was the former Oracle of Kandrakar, Himerish. He was looking at him with his blue piercing eyes which seemed to know and understand the pain in Matt's soul.

"Himerish?" Matt said, not believing at his own eyes. He bowed respectfully at his old teacher, before asking, "What are you doing here?"

The warrior looked at him thoughtfully and answered, "I'm here to help the Guardians to find Will. With Orube's help and mine, maybe we'll have more possibilities to find her."

Hope revived in Matt's chest. Wonderful, his old teacher was back and ready to help them! Matt was looking forward to take the field at his side to look for Will. He would have find her and remedy his

errors.

"This is great!" Matt exclaimed happily, "When do we start?" he asked. "The sooner we begin, the sooner we find her."

"You are not going to help us, Matt." Himerish said.

"What?"

Maybe he had heard wrong. Yes, he was positive that he had misheard. Why would Himerish refused his help? He was well-trained. He wasn't a dead weight. He could do this.

"Forgive me, but maybe I heard wrong, because..." he started, but Himerish stopped him, "No, my friend, I'm afraid you heard well. You won't come with us this time."

Matt stiffened under Himerish's gaze. He lowered his eyes to hide the frustration impressed on his face:

"But... Why?" he finally asked. "I am a warrior! I have to help the Guardians! And I have to find Will, my girlfriend! Why are you forbidding me to help you, when on the contrary I could be a big help?" he suddenly stopped talking, fearing of being too much disrespectful.

But Himerish didn't answer immediately. He sat on Matt's bed and looked at him intensely, "Tell me Matt, how did you feel when you heard that Will had been wrongly accused?" he asked.

Matt was a bit taken aback by that question. He thought about that for an instant, but then he answered, "I... it was like a cold shower. When I heard about it… I thought about how I had treated her the day after the trial. I was ashamed. I didn't talked with her again after that day." He lowered his head and clenched his fists.

The warrior nodded and told Matt to sit next to him, the boy obeyed.

"Matt, why do you want to find Will?" the former Oracle suddenly asked. Matt looked at him, perplexed. Wasn't that obvious?

"W-what? It's logic! Will is my girlfriend; it's my duty to find her. And I care for her; I have to tell her this! I've been an idiot, stupid... Himerish, what I'm going to do if we don't find her?" he asked then with a painful look on his face.

Himerish looked back at him, then he spoke to Matt very slowly: "_My_ girlfriend…_my_ duty… _I_'ve been stupid..." he began to repeat Matt's words, "but, my young friend, all these reasons... they're all about _you_. Not Will. Then I'm asking you, why do you want to find her, Matt? Because _she _is certainly in pain, because _she_ could be in danger… or do you want to find her to silence your pride? Do you want to find Will for her or for yourself, Matt?"

Matt was speechless. He loved Will. Her love was the most precious thing he had in his life. The thought of her pain suddenly hit hhim with violent force. The thoughts of Will's tears... the same tears he had seen at the trial, and that know were his fault too, made him sick. He took his head between his hands and whispered,"I love Will... I couldn't live without her…"

"I know Matt." Himerish gently said. "But now you want to help mainly because of your warrior's honour. You left Will because you were thinking that she had betrayed Kandrakar, and at that time your pride had been stronger than the love you feel for her. And when we will find Will, she is going to need the strongest and the purest love you can give her, if you wish that she will be willing to forgive us. For this reason I'm asking you to not to help and to trust us. We will find Will, I'll promise you Matt."

Matt was crying. Himerish was right. He had allowed his warrior's role to cloud his true feelings. He would have stayed at Will's side. Help her to restart after the trial.

"Will you wait, Matt?" Himerish asked him. The boy nodded, wiping away his tears. He raised his gaze toward his old teacher and said, "I'll wait. I trust you and the girls. Bring Will back to me no matter what. I want to see her smiling and laughing again and I want to protect her happiness and her joy. I want her to trust me again because without her... without her..." he didn't finish the phrase.

The other smiled and bowed respectfully toward him: "You chose the right thing, my young friend. You have my word that I'll do everything in my power to find the Guardian." He stood up and said goodbye to Matt. He left from the window he had arrived, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts.

Matt wasn't the type that stayed still without doing anything. He wished to be the first to find Will...but maybe...trusting them this time...was the best choice.

He took a photo of Will and him from the desk. Will and him were kissing at the beach; someone had taken a picture without saying it to them. Will was kissing Matt with her eyes closed, smiling on his lips and with a hand lazily stretched toward the nosy photographer, silently telling him to go away and to look somewhere else. That was his Will.

Matt tightened the grip on the photo. Never more, he would never more allow his pride to cloud the love he had for Will.

A noise out of his room signalled him that his mother was back with the skirts. He put back the photo with a sigh and left the room to go and help his mother, closing quietly the door of his bedroom.

**

* * *

**

Short one-shot.


End file.
